17 of the world's nicest, brightest metro stations -- from New York to Moscow

Jessica Benavides Canepa and CNN staff • Published 24th November 2014

FacebookTwitterEmail

View Gallery

16 Pictures

(CNN) — Metro stations around the world get a bad reputation as dark, grimy places where travelers are as likely to catch a communicable disease as they are a train.

Riding the subway needn't be a journey to the dark side. Brash, bright and colorful new metro stations have begun to open in several cities that make going cheek-to-cheek with 45 strangers in a metal tube almost feel worth it.

Here are 17 metro stations around the world where it's a nice, bright, impressive wait:

1. Fulton Transit Center (New York)

Gloomier than most, New York's underground rail network would make an ideal hangout for vampires, if only they could put up with the unpredictable weekend services and that weird smell at Canal Street.

Creatures of the dark would do well to avoid the newly opened Fulton Transit Center though.

This hub for nine subway lines in Lower Manhattan sits under a huge oculus -- a beautiful conical conduit that pulls light down well below street level.

8. Khalid Bin Al Waleed Station (Dubai, UAE)

The driverless trains of Dubai's shiny new(ish) metro system might be mildly disconcerting, but not as much as the bizarre, but beautiful jellyfish dangling from the ceiling of the the Khalid Bin Al Waleed Station.

These exotic chandeliers cast a luminous blue glow over the stop beneath the BurJuman shopping center and add to a watery theme further complimented by images of traditional pearl divers.

9. T-Centralen (Stockholm)

Above ground, Stockholm's central station looks like a pretty average part of a rapid transit system.

Start boring down, though, and unexpected changes in color and shape reveal a very different animal.

12. 'Fosteritos' (Bilbao, Spain)

Less than 20 years old, Bilbao's metro is the third-largest in Spain.

The curved-glass entrances of many of the stations -- affectionately nicknamed "Fosteritos" ("Little Fosters") after their creator, Lord Foster -- are considered prime examples of the city's modern, up-to-the-minute style.

The transparent structures admit plenty of daytime light and at night are lit up.

13. Palais Royal -- Musee du Louvre (Paris)

In a city as beautiful as Paris, this unconventional station entrance at Place Colette still stands out.

Completed in 2000 (the centennial year of the Paris metro), Jean-Michel Othoniel's "Kiosque des noctambules" ("Kiosk of the night owls") intertwines dazzling colored beads to form two protective cupolas.

A meeker design would be overshadowed by the close proximity of the Louvre Museum and surrounding classic architecture.